Wet North Wales Bouldering

Another day, another weather system.... This weekend North Wales will be mostly shity! But we didn't let the rain and sub zero temps keep us off the rocks... oh no!

First on the list were the cromlech boulders. After a couple of V2 and V3 warm-ups we got to work on the Backside traverse, V6/8 (alternate finishes). Brilliant starting moves traversing the lip of a roof on some small, spaced holds gets you to some slopey shelfs and lots of heelhooks. The cramped and contorted finishing moves over the lip, complete with lactic gorged forearms provides the crux. I dispatched the V6 and V7 variants fairly swiftly (thanks to Carolines cunning beta and being lanky) and worked the epic V8 full Backside! Numb lifeless hands called an end to my play and i just spotted Caroline as she worked out a sequence allowing her to traverse the lip. With her sequence solid she made it the full way across, hung out of the slopers at the end of the traverse, shook out and tackeled the finishing sequence. But the pump was too much... tickling the finishing hold at the top of the boulder, her arms eventually gave up and she dropped off - wasted! You know the feeling, every other go after that was building on the pump from the previous tries and Caroline was forced to leave the problem unsent (Till next week!).

With the rain getting heavier in the pass we abandoned ship and headed to The Pit in Ogwen. Everything was wet, it was spiting rain but the Pit was dry - result! The last time i was here i spent the whole time working Harvey Oswald V6 and spotting Nige on the first ascent of the Pit and the Pendulum V8. This time i was curious to see how difficult the V6 felt. Got her first go - even the dynamic finish felt grand - Happy, Happy, Joy, Joy!
Right then... what next? I started looking at the Pit Traverse V9. To my surprise it felt great except for the nasty crimpy first few moves and the fact that the finishing V4 arete was wet!

The coolest cross through and twisty-twisty i've ever done on rock - beautiful!

By the end of the session i had linked the start to the jug on the arete - all that remained was the V4 two mover up the arete but after traversing a V9 face i couldn't cope with the wet holds and had to give up - but oh so chuffed with the climbing!! Psyched!!

Snowy North Wales Bouldering

We got out into Snowdonia today for some rock... Things were wet, temps were cold but our Psyche was high!The Bustach Boulders were our first stop. Below the snowline and in the shadow of Snowdon, they're a hidden gem. Caroline eyes up the Font 6c+ steep line of pockets that make Fagin.

Caroline surprises herself with a quick send. Footwork that makes the most out of the small holds available is the key... or in Carolines case, take your top off and cut loose!

Winter conditions as we move up in altitude towards the Sheep Pen boulders in the Ogwen Valley. Beautiful day and the most inspiring setting you could imagine for bouldering. We were not sure if the problems would be dry or snow covered but it was worth a look.

We found the Sheep Pen in almost perfect conditions. It was Caroline's first time up here and she was amazed by the perfection of the rock and the clean lines. First problem was Dog Shooter a Font 6b that i remmeber taking a few goes at a couple of years back... Caroline onsights it, Haa! Anyway, we end up going through the collection of classics. Toe Dragon (Font 6c) is next, then the obvious and brilliant Toe Dragon into Dog Shooter link up (Font 7a+).

Then Caroline prooves she'd never been here before by suggesting i try "this thing over here". Uggghhhh.... it's The Gnasher (Font 7a). I have tried it before but it's a killer. It needs alot of tension and power to catch a razor sharp tooth filled pocket static or pure ignorance and a high pain treshold to dyno to it! Obviously during past attempts on this problem i tried to rely on the latter.

This time however i could pull on and lock the moves - deadpointing into the pocket in control and moving on to the better finishing holds! The training is working! The first move involves a shoulder high right hand hold (feels best as an open hand) and a knee-height left foot hold (not as large or as positive as you'd like on this angle). The right foot has nothing that fits me and the left hand leaves a flat hold and begins the long journey into the Gnasher's nasty mouth. Brilliant!

Buzzing after that i decided to try one of the 3 remaining problems on the block i had left to do. Toe Dragon into Kingdom of Rain link (Font 7b)... dispatched first go, it was one of those days!

Wicklow Bouldering

We had a brief trip home this week and as usual we managed to squeeze in a afternoon down in Glendalough bouldering. It’s the one place we always seem to make it whenever we’re back in Ireland. But I’m starting to notice that the problems I get on every trip ate the same ones time and time again. There tonnes of others but not being around much I don’t know whats good and where they are. Either way the quality of the problems is excellent and they give a good day out and now I can measure how I’m climbing by how hard they feel. They fall into 2 categories for me now; ones I can walk up to and repeat in a go or two and ones that feel doo-able or desperate depending on conditions. For me (and it’s definitely a style thing) the problems I get on and climb easily enough most visits include King Cobra and everything on the hidden groove boulder, Chillax and Chillax left, Superswinger sitter, BBE sitter, Rhythm and Stealth. They all suit me. The other ones I try but sometimes can’t do would be The Fin sitter and Andy’s arête sitter. Caroline, Kev and Belgian Sean were trying the latter at Christmas but I couldn’t join in due to my shoulder being fecked. This trip I fancied a test – feckin thing felt nails! It’s a great problem purely because it’s not strength dependant – it’s all in your left toe and body positioning, Brillaint! The Fin has just changed a lot since I first did it – it’s been brushed to shit! You can see the sloper from down the hill, it’s a totally different colour now! But it still climbs the same I suppose, great problem!

It was good this trip because Caroline was feeling psyched to try something – turns out she’d never tried Chillax before although she had sat quietly at the edge of many a group of climbers playing on it over our visits to Glendalough every Christmas – it just never looked doo-able to her. This time I said she should give it a go – just hang the holds, break down each move, hold the positions. It was cool to see the progress! She was fighting herself all the way, convinced that it was too hard, reachy, slopey – yet by persisting and trying different things a sequence soon emerged that she could make work. Once she linked the lip to the heel to the jug for the first time the battle was won and she was in project mode – I knew this frame of mind well enough to recognise it. Before we finished Caroline had made it from the start, through the crux and to the jug and just fell off the top-out due to fatigue and cold hands. She was Psyched!! On the way home through North Wales the conversation centred on all the possibilities around for boulder projects – The Decoy ploy, URP, In your honour, Everything on the cromlech boulders! (Nige if you’re out there, where exactly IS the Decoy ploy beneath Milestone buttress?!!?)

Walls

Well since moving to the UK (almost 6 years ago!!) we’ve noticed the difference in the climbing walls available between here and back home in Ireland. Saying that, we’ve not been able to afford the time or money needed for regular access to a wall until this year between studies and work. But with only 2 months of making the weekly pilgrimage to Liverpool’s Awesome Walls I can say that the benefits of even just one weekly session there are clear. Having to make an effort to get there really keeps you keen and focused – we arrive, warm up and then crank out 10 leads each – Without putting any emphasis on grades we’ve noticed them creep up week on week. It’s all good! The big difference is the Barrel wall – concave wall into a roof into a convex headwall. Combined with genius routesetting you’re guaranteed a pump to condition you for what you want to be on in Europe when that holiday comes around! Ian Vickers has been setting the harder routes on the wall up to 8a – but take all the grades with a pinch of salt (they’re indoors after all). Back across the water I’ve been lucky enough to be shown both of Dublin’s Co-op walls. The Brainchild of Michael Duffy – the first Co-op was set up on the Southside in a garage two years ago now. It’s awesome! Then inspired by what they saw, a group of Northside climbers set up the Arch Co-op on the North Strand. They’re both brilliant! Owned and built by climbers to keep them psyched and get them strong. From what I’ve seen the Southside venue is home to the harder problems and a wider variety of holds – makes a difference! The Northside wall might even have more climbable area and the holds are slightly more conducive to easier problems, but at the angle they’re set on climbing there can’t fail to beef you up! It’s interesting to see from an outsiders point of view. I mean I think they’re great and much needed – and I’m sure the proof will be seen over the next couple of years when harder and harder problems get sent by climbers training at these walls. The emphasis of these walls (with the exception of the Coop’s campus board) is on bouldering to get strong as opposed to training. I think that’s a reflection of the often wet Irish weather – when given some space to use for climbing training it gets filled with bouldering area – no systems, warm-up walls etc… just plenty of variety of angles to set problems on to keep people psyched. I especially liked the Coop’s steep board (what it is 50 degree?) it was cool to try some of the set problems – no problem holding the holds but the footholds all seemed to be in awkward places for me highlighting the difference between climbing your own hard problems on the moonboard and trying someone elses! I’d move back to Ireland sooner knowing that those walls are there

Pointless?

I’ve always had ultimate respect for people who can crank out one-armed pull-ups. Two finger one-armers?!?! Wow! And despite never actually being on a route where I felt that was a pre-requisite for success I always wanted to achieve that kind of raw strength. But I always had 2, yes 2, excuses! Number 1 – I was heavy… right then well if I continue to acknowledge that as an excuse for not being able to do one-armers then I may as well just give up now – surely I could just as easily hide behind that reason for not succeeding on any route! Number 2 – I am lanky… Haa! Well the engineer in me makes a convincing argument revolving around the law of the lever (did you like that? Revolving around! Haa!) – point of application of the force times by the magnitude of the force etc, etc… Well stuff that too! I’m admitting now that both my excuses are shite! I just don’t have that power…yet! Why? Because I have never trained for it before. Will it be of much use to me if I can do it? I can’t see how that amount of power could fail to improve my climbing and the psychological barrier it would smash would be immense aswell! Anyway – I’m going for it. And I’m bringing with me all my tools I’ve picked up from sports science and engineering. I’ve recently read a simple and genius way of measuring progress and it’s given me the carrot I needed for the end of this long stick. A weighing scales. Stand on one. Under your fingerboard. Note your weight. Pull as hard as you can on one arm and look at where the scales rests. Repeat with other arm. Well I did this and given a starting reading of 80kg – I pulled and the scales showed just 10kg both arms! So I’m 10kg off doing a one-armer – BUT I can lift 70kgs with one arm already! So I either get lighter or stronger or both and I’ll have it! Instant Psyche! Anyone got any experience or tips to go along with this?

Note: I wrote this post about 2 weeks ago but never had time to Blog it – and as it happens I got emailed a short vid of a friend cranking out a 2 finger one-armer off his fingerboard between writing this and now – impressive, yes! Co-incidence, I think not! :o)